I'm herded off the stage, numb, wondering what sort of crazy land I've just stumbled into.
Because that shit was intense. Like, what? Two people bickering over one another. Cousins, perhaps? Cousins in a relationship. And then Cael's sister just buying them both out because she was fed up of their shit. The same sister who bought Melantha.
It was almost easy to forget that I have no intention of being interested in these people, in listening to them and trying to humanize them to the point where I understand where they're coming from. These are the people who will be taking me away from my family. These are the people responsible for whisking human women away from the world, and never letting them return. This same fate is reserved for me. For all these women, who may never again see their families.
So I can't like them. I can't care about them. And I need to be thinking of my mother and father right now, wondering what they're doing. Thinking about a way to contact them. I doubt my mother would rest until she finally finds out what happened to her beloved daughter.
And I won't rest, either. I'll find a way to talk to them. The opportunity will come. I just have to be patient. I'm led back into my cage to await the end of the auction, and hold hesitant conversation with Melantha, because it looks like we're going to be seeing some more of one another.
“We'll figure a way out of this,” I tell her. “We'll find ways to meet up.”
Melantha shakes her head, lips twisted in bitter amusement. “Save it. We'll see when we get there. If we get locked up when we arrive, doubt we doing a lot of visiting, yunno?”
“Pft.” I run my fingers over the cold metal of the bars. “No need to be so negative.”
“No need to be so chipper, either. In case you ain't realized, we've been sold. These people plucked us off the streets without permission, shoved us in cages, and sold us like cattle. Without even talking to us. Wherever we're going, we sure ain't gonna be treated like the bee's knees.”
I suspect as much, and my stomach begins to crumple in at the thought. For the first time, my defenses go down, and the vulnerability exposes itself.
I don't want to be here. I just want to be home and safe. I don't want to be fucking taken. Tears choke up in my eyes. I refuse to let them fall, refuse to let the hysteria take over me. I allow it a few seconds, simply because it's impossible to contain for long. One. Two. Three.
Then it's gone. Held at bay by my will. Melantha seems to understand more than what's being said, and lets out a sigh, threading fingers through her hair. Neither of us bother to say anything else.
Later on, when the auctions finally wrap up, I'm approached by the three shifters responsible for the clusterfuck over me. Yuna, Alaric, Cael. Yuna instantly approaches Melantha. Guards linger behind them nervously, supposedly for their protection, though I sincerely doubt dragon shifters need much protecting.
“You are mine, rude woman,” Yuna says, her thick red lips curling into a smile. “You and your rude tongue will be mine to endure. Perhaps you can tell me more about how much you want me to fuck myself.”
Melantha just gives Yuna an incredulous glare. “What the fuck?” When Yuna says nothing, Melantha goes, “Are you serious?”
“Deadly.”
“I don't get you,” Alaric says, cutting through the conversation Yuna and Melantha seem to be unraveling. He has a kind of pout to his lips, as if unhappy at the whole situation. Cael looks as though he's smelled something offensive, and keeps that wrinkled curve to his nose the whole time they're standing there. “You've never approved of anything we did, so why even try to help us out like that?”
“Maybe I've just had a change of heart,” she replies with her rich, throaty voice. “Or maybe I just tire of you fools acting like children all the time. And unlike my dear brother here,” she says, now flicking disapproving eyes to Cael, “I care that he doesn't squander away half the family fortune on a woman. All because neither of you seem to accept that what happened between you two is over.” She makes a slashing motion with her throat.
“I've accepted it,” Cael says shortly. “Idiot over here hasn't.”
“Please. I'm not stupid. It's not my business to tell you what to do. Father dislikes the fact you two even talk to each other. He doesn't want your... perverse sexual activities to become public record. But we do have a reputation to uphold. Either you two play nice and take it in turns with this girl, until one of you grows some sense and buys another girl – or I'll take her, and leave you both with nothing. Got that?”
There's some grumbling – but surprisingly, there's no resistance. Whoever this Yuna is, she holds some clout over these males. Which leaves me to wonder just how misogynist this dragon society actually is. If they buy women like cattle, but the woman is the one clutching everyone else's balls, then perhaps it's not as imbalanced as I thought. Though that's not saying much, because I never thought of shifter society at all. Only how they tried to blend with us. Maybe Yuna has some serious sexual repression going on, and she's taking it out on everyone else.
I wonder what she plans to do with Melantha, though?
Eventually, Alaric turns to me, though not without some overt glances at his cousins. “Are you going to play nice or are we going to have to drag you with us in chains?” He locks gazes with me.
Like I'm about to make the choice that causes me the most discomfort. I'd rather not be dragged kicking and screaming by my hair. “I'll play nice.”
Alaric nods. “Great. Thanks for the suggestion, by the way. It was brilliant. I'm Alaric.” He reaches out a calloused hand through the cage to grasp mine. I reluctantly take it, deciding antagonizing my captors is not the best way to go about things. I know their names, but don't let on. His hand is surprisingly warm, sending a pleasant tingle through my arm. “The broody one here is called Cael.”
Cael has his arms folded, clearly regretting the decision he's just made. I decide not to tell them that I know their names. I'm pretty sure everyone this side of the mountain knows their names.
“Am I allowed to ask questions? Because I have a few.” As I say this, Melantha is taken out of her cage. Yuna gives a flirty, edged smile, and Melantha appears rather panicked. Like she knows that out of all the people who could have brought her, Yuna is the one about to give her the hardest time.
“You are,” Alaric says. “And I'll be glad to answer whatever ones you have. But not now. We need to get going. We can organize how we'll share you later.”
“One question. Please?”
Alaric shrugs, his lips twisting reluctantly. “Make it quick.”
“What's my purpose in all this?” I have to know. I mean, I already suspect that I'm going to be some sort of shared sex slave, but I'd rather hear it from his mouth, then to be left guessing until the end.
Alaric and Cael give me rather hard stares. My heart beats a little faster, and I silently curse when I note I'm finding him seriously attractive. Out of all the things that can happen, I shouldn't be excusing my fucking captors because they're attractive. That's not the way to do things. “We're looking for a suitable woman to be a royal consort and to bear children. Only the most beautiful will do.” Alaric smiles wanly. I noticed something about the shifters, actually, during the whole inspection of us and then buying us. Aside from Yuna, all of them are male. Either women find this sort of thing distasteful, or there's another reason for it entirely. “There are no female dragons. No female dragons that are fertile, I mean,” he says, when I raise my eyebrows and glance over to Yuna. “Our Yuna here is an odd frog. But just like the other shifter women, she's infertile. So as you can imagine, that adds some little complications to our world. And there's not a whole lot of pretty women who are willing to give up their lives and live in the mountains. So a lot of us resort to black market auctions to get what we need.”
“Huh.” I should be alarmed at the announcement, but instead I'm intrigued, against my will. I've just been given a dip into the faint politics of an existence far removed from me. Not that
I've ever considered what it might be like to live in a place where all the local women are infertile. I suppose I can almost understand the need to do something with the women then. But... I don't understand the fact they need to resort to slavery to get the women they need. I'm sure people would volunteer. Regardless of what he says. Some people get off on the idea that they can fuck some shape shifting human with freaky colored eyes. And I'm sure people would love to do so with one that can transform into a dragon.
Dragons, after all, are the biggest and baddest of all the mythical creatures. Everyone knows a dragon is synonymous with power.
Still, with all this, it's clear I'm supposed to be a breeding cow. A breeding cow split between two people. I'm not really sure how that would work. Like, if I became pregnant at any point – who gets the baby?
Wow. I'm even thinking about this now. Better ask now whilst I'm still thinking about it.
“Okay, I have another before you do your thing. Wait! Please,” I add, when Alaric rolls his eyes. “How would sharing me even work? Like will you guys live together or?”
At this, Alaric frowns. “We'll sort that out later. Now, come. Choose one of us to ride. Or be carried in our talons. It doesn't matter to me which.” He then gives a glare at Cael. “You won't steal her away, either. So don't even think about it.”
“I won't let him,” Yuna says, pursing those immaculate lips of hers. Damn, if she went to high school, I'm fairly certain she'd be the queen bee. Everyone would flock to her and want to be her friend. Shame if you don't make it into the popular girls, though. I bet I would have ended out on her field of rejects, since that lifestyle makes me vomit. Craving to be the center of attention – that's dumb. It doesn't make you happy.
But then again, I crave different kinds of attention, so I guess I can't really talk.
“Okay then,” I say. “Let me see what you transform into, then.”
Alaric gives a little smile. Cael remains studiously blank. There must be such a stick wedged up his ass that he has no idea how to get it out again.
The guards finally let me out of that cage. My legs are stiff and cramping, and I stumble a little as I get to my feet. I rub my thighs even as Alaric and Cael step back, heading for a bigger clearing to shift. Beyond the rows of cages is a small patch of trees, and then a bowl-like section of rock where they head for. Yuna has grasped Melantha by her arm, and Melantha unwillingly goes along, giving me a tight grimace.
Yuna looks way too happy with Melantha for her to be a mere servant. Alaric gives me that same kind of manic glint in his eyes as well. Cael, however, displays nothing that tells me of what's going on in that mind of his.
I watch in terrified awe as they both transform upon the ledge that juts out over a rather imposing cliff, flattening shrubbery and grass as they do so. The transformation is near instant, and their clothes melt into the scales.
Alaric resembles a pea green dragon, scales glistening with a cyan sheen in places, and he towers above me in height, easily reaching about ten meters in height. Those talons of his certainly look large enough to grasp me, or crush me. I take several steps back. Cael, on the other hand, resembles a copper colored dragon, slightly bulkier and spikier than Alaric, who is all smooth scales and less pain. I'm not so sure about the idea of sitting on Cael's ridged back, though there looks like some grooves where I could settle into, just behind the drill of his horns that protrude from the back of his skull.
Yuna's the same color as Cael, and Melantha is hesitantly scrambling up her back. The brunette eventually finds a comfortable handhold at the base of Yuna's skull, and the female dragon lets out a satisfied hiss, before launching off into the air. Her great wings claw through the air, making swooshing sounds.
I examine Alaric and Cael, who both look at me expectantly. I feel like there's some kind of mental game going on between them, with who will get chose first.
I prefer to go for the dragon who is likely to cause me the least amount of damage when I sit on them.
“I'll, uh, just climb onto Alaric then,” I say. “He's less spiky. I don't think I want to be accidentally impaled.”
Under the dark glares of the guards tasked with taking all the women out of their cages, I clamber up onto Alaric's back. I then instantly decide that maybe I should have considered Cael after all, because the spikes would have locked me in place. More things to cling onto, anyway. The best place I find is just behind Alaric's frilled head like Yuna, as the horns there are easy to latch onto. There's also a small bump I can just about settle onto. Cael seems to give me a pissed off snort, before he beats his copper wings and leaves us in a scrambling fury. Alaric watches after Cael for a moment.
I wonder what the story is with them. And I wonder what drove them here today. Jealously? Longing? Family pressure?
The second I think of family, mine conjure up in my mind's eye. My mother, Siobhan, sitting there at the table, idly picking at her food, maybe glancing at the door as she waits for her precious daughter to come waltzing through the door like there's nothing wrong. My dad, Roland, buried behind one of his newspapers, his left leg folded over his knee, jiggling it, before he puts it down to also discreetly peek at the door.
They may not be perfect parents, but they are mine, and they do love me. And sure, they may have a strange way of expressing that affection at times, but I've never had to worry about some of the things my friends have – such as being booted out at the age of eighteen to fend for themselves in the world, or dealing with the talk that somehow, just by being born, they ruined their parent's lives.
Alaric waits for a moment, making sure that I'm firmly on him. Then he kind of jumps and flaps his wings at the same time. It causes a lurching motion where I find myself clinging onto his horns for dear life. And when I feel the cold blast of air whip at my face, I end up ducking behind his frill. My thighs grip onto his serpentine back. He flaps harder, lifting himself higher off the ground. The angle of the world shifts rapidly around me as we leave this section of the mountains. Two other people transform into dragons as well not so far behind us.
I shiver as I cling on, with the awesome sight of an unveiling world before me. I've only ever been on a plane once before, and I was in the middle seat, and mostly saw a chunk of wing, so I never got to witness North Carolina shrinking below me with a sea of lights like you see in the movies.
Gone is the auction area, and my scenery is now puffs of cloud, snowy mountains and white-coated woodlands. Rock faces cover parts of the scenery, and I peer, hoping I'll recognize something in the background. Maybe some city lights, maybe some kind of recognizable formation so I have an idea of what to tell my parents, should I ever reach a phone and get signal.
There's nothing familiar, of course.
Honestly, even though I don't know where I am, the view is magnificent. I mean, it still doesn't change the fact that I'm going to be pimped out to some dragon princes, but it does make me feel better that at least Alaric deigned to explain some things to me, and gave me the choice to ride on him, rather than lug me about like a sack of potatoes.
As little control as I do have, there's still some sliver of dignity left that I'm allowed to cling onto. That means a lot to me. Gotta find that silver lining, right? That's what life is about. When you're given a shit hand to deal with, you just have to make the most of it. Our focus at the end of the day is always on survival. If a woman is forced into an arranged marriage, and there's no way out of it other than some forced honor killing or something, she tends to learn to adapt to her husband, or find a way to get back at him or return to her family in a dignified way that doesn't shame them. In abusive relationships, you can either leave or stop the abuser from holding power over you. Unfortunately, too many people are too afraid to take power with their own hands. As a result, you end up getting a lot of people who are miserable.
Even people who started off in perfectly healthy situations. And then there's those who end up on Doctor Phil and Jeremy Kyle. Speaking in the moron ver
sion of the English language, with their piggy faces and gormless eyes and lank, greasy hair.
Maybe Alaric won't be a douchebag. Maybe even Cael won't be. But I can't know that for certain. I just have to keep my wits about me, and I'm going to see what I can do to escape. I will first have to examine the situation, and work out how best to play it to my advantage. Even if that means getting rather friendly with my captors.
That's another way I can control someone. Through sex.
I'm not exactly shy about it. Sure I've not actually had it, but I do enough shit with myself and watch enough to know what to expect about it. I can picture myself taking charge, pushing someone down on the bed and jumping onto them. I might have to let them take the lead at first, then figure out my own niche to dominate. But if I make myself invaluable in some way, like good at sex, good at listening or talking, then I'll make the dragons more inclined to listen to me and help me. It's just logic.
Sold To The Dragon Princes: The Novel Page 4
